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A digital rights group has stated to have harvested a vast number of tracks from the popular streaming service and is preparing to publish them publicly.

Possible Boost for Artificial Intelligence Development

Observers noted the seeming data breach could boost AI companies looking for material to develop their models.

A group known as Anna’s Archive said it had obtained 86 million audio tracks from Spotify and 256 million rows of metadata such as performer and album names. The company, which hosts more than 100 million tracks, confirmed that the leak did not represent its entire inventory.

“We have located and deactivated the malicious user accounts that engaged in unlawful scraping,” stated a Spotify spokesperson.

The Swedish service, which has more than 700 million users worldwide, further explained that an investigation into unauthorised access identified a external actor scraped public metadata and used illicit methods to circumvent DRM [digital rights management].

Group's Stated Goal and Worries

Spotify does not think the music taken by Anna’s Archive has been made public yet. Anna’s Archive, which is recognized for providing links to copyright-infringing books, said in a blog it wanted to create a ‘preservation archive’ for music.

They claimed the music files accounted for 99.6% of all music listened to by its listeners and would be shared via ‘peer-to-peer networks’, a method of exchanging large digital files online.

“Of course the service doesn’t have all the music in the world, but it’s a fantastic start,” said Anna’s Archive, which describes its mission as “safeguarding humanity’s information and heritage”.

AI Training and Copyright Debate

Ed Newton-Rex for protecting artists’ copyright, remarked the leaked music would likely be utilized for developing AI models.

“Training on illegally sourced data is sadly common in the AI industry, so this accessed music is highly likely to end up instructing AI models,” he stated.

The Anna’s Archive site makes references to LibGen, a vast online repository of pirated books that has reportedly been used by the parent company of Facebook to train its systems.

A founder of an AI startup posted on the professional network that individuals of the public could in principle “create their own private free version of Spotify”. He said it could also enable tech companies to “train on modern music at scale”.

Copyright has become a battleground between creatives, writers and content creators on one side and AI companies on the other.

Policy Considerations and Responses

Across Britain, artists and writers have protested against a government suggestion to allow AI companies utilize copyright-protected work without permission unless the rights holder opts out. Virtually every participant to a government call for evidence on the idea has backed artists’ concerns.

The secretary of state for science, research and technology told parliament this month there was “little consensus” on the issue, adding that ministers would “take the time to get this correct”. The government has committed to make regulatory plans on AI and copyright by next year.